Venus And Serena: Where’s the love?

Venus and Serena Williams plot the next stage in their world domination of tennis (Picture: Reuters)

TV review: Why doesn’t everyone love Venus And Serena (BBC2)?

On the face of it, the story of two black girls growing up on the wrong side of the tracks – LA’s notorious Compton – to rise to the top in a sport as riddled with elitism as tennis should be as sentimentally stirring as Seabiscuit.

‘You’ll see Venus and Serena in the Wimbledon arena,’ runs the line in Snoop Dogg’s Signs – that’s the level of their fame. They own tennis.

Yet there’s something about the Williams sisters that doesn’t quite connect. There’s widespread admiration for their undoubted talent, dedication and numerous victories. But love? Outside of a hard-core fanbase, they don’t come close to the kind of affection reserved for the likes of Rafa Nadal or Roger Federer.

This was the unspoken subtext of Venus And Serena, a documentary/fan letter, that did its best to reveal the personalities behind the booming serves and awesome forehands.

There were plenty of fun off-court moments, clips of the young sisters learning the game, hanging out and talking about boys. And you couldn’t help but applaud the pluck it took for them to overcome the seriously debilitating injuries and illness that struck them in 2011.

And yet… the love didn’t come through. It’s not just because watching Serena smash through hapless opposition can be the sporting equivalent of clubbing a baby seal, it’s more the over-riding impression that they’re so totally wrapped up in themselves – not surprising, given the way father Richard (now there’s another story) pushed them as children – that, truly, everything is about them.

Most telling was when Serena recalled when an umpire correctly penalised her for yelling ‘come on’ in the middle of a rally. That’s just not tennis, it’s cheating.

Serena unleashed a tirade at the umpire, calling her ‘ugly inside’.

Was Serena contrite at the memory? Yes. She regretted how her insults had made her seem nerdy. That was the way she saw it.

What Venus And Serena showed, more than anything, is you can’t have it both ways: the unshakeable self-belief that turned them into champions has also made them a tough act to love. I bet they can live with that.